A pesticide commonly used in America’s food supply has been linked to Parkinson’s disease, new research suggests.

A UCLA study published in the journal Springer Nature Link suggests that exposure to chlorpyrifos could increase the risk of the neurological disease.

The chemical is often used on agricultural products like soybeans, fruit and nut trees, broccoli, cauliflower and other row crops, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency.

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The study compared 829 people with Parkinson’s to 824 people without the disease over a 45-year period, focusing on their proximity to chlorpyrifos.

The researchers also conducted mouse experiments, where mice inhaled the pesticide as humans would for 11 weeks. Experiments were also carried out on zebrafish to study cell-level brain damage.

In humans, the study revealed that long-term exposure to chlorpyrifos led to more than a 2.5 times higher risk of Parkinson’s.

In mice, exposure to the pesticide caused movement problems similar to Parkinson’s symptoms, loss of dopamine-producing neurons, increased brain inflammation and build-up of harmful proteins.

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Zebrafish suffered brain cell death and damage linked to failure in the cell’s “cleanup system,” according to the study press release.

Dr. Jeff Bronstein, director of the Movement Disorders Program at UCLA and professor of neurology and molecular toxicology, noted that previous human studies also suggested an association between chlorpyrifos exposure and Parkinson’s.

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“[We were] surprised that the mechanism of toxicity was apparent in both mice and zebrafish,” he said. “We rarely find such consistent results in different animal models.”

The researcher emphasized that the association between pesticide exposure and Parkinson’s was “very strong,” and the longer someone was exposed, the higher the risk became.

“People should avoid exposure to CPF and similar pesticides (organophosphates) by not using them in their home, eating organics, and washing fruits and vegetables before eating them,” Bronstein advised.

Study limitations

The study did have some limitations, the researchers acknowledged, primarily that it was observational, meaning it shows an association but cannot prove causation.

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It also estimated exposure based on participants’ locations, and did not measure diet, indoor exposure or personal lifestyle behaviors. Additionally, the results of the animal models can’t be translated directly to humans.

There was also the possibility that chlorpyrifos was used along with other chemicals, which means it could be difficult to measure its specific impact, the study noted.

Industry reaction

Chlorpyrifos is used to control different kinds of pests, like termites, mosquitoes and roundworms, among crops, according to the National Pesticide Information Center (NPIC) at Oregon State University.

People can be exposed to the pesticide by breathing it in or by consuming contaminated food or water.

In 2021, the EPA banned the use of chlorpyrifos on food crops, but a federal appeals court overturned that decision in 2023, allowing its use to resume on some crops while regulators revisit the rule.

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In January 2026, the EPA issued an update outlining plans to move forward with a rule that would ban most uses of chlorpyrifos.

“Chlorpyrifos is subject to registration review, a process required under FIFRA (the Federal Insecticide, Fungicide, and Rodenticide Act) in which registered pesticides are comprehensively evaluated every 15 years against current safety standards and the latest scientific evidence,” the EPA said in a statement sent to Fox News Digital.

“EPA is currently developing a revised human health risk assessment for chlorpyrifos as part of that review, and will consider this study alongside any other relevant submissions. Where the science calls for stronger protections or tolerance revocations, EPA will act without hesitation and without delay.”

Fox News Digital reached out to several manufacturers of the chemical for comment.

“People should avoid exposure to CPF and similar pesticides.”

Corteva, an Indiana agrichemical company formed in 2019 through the merger of Dow Chemical and DuPont, announced in 2020 that it would end production of chlorpyrifos within the year, citing declining sales.

In April 2022, the German chemical company BASF requested the cancellation of its pesticide registrations for products containing chlorpyrifos. 

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“BASF does not manufacture chlorpyrifos and does not have any pesticide registrations issued by the U.S. EPA for chlorpyrifos-containing products,” the company told Fox News Digital. 

No products from Corteva or BASF were included in the study linking chlorpyrifos to Parkinson’s disease.

Along a bustling sidewalk in Boston, a bright yellow payphone invites folks to “call a Boomer.”

Almost 3,000 miles away in Reno, Nevada, a nearly identical phone prompts residents of Sierra Manor – an apartment complex for seniors – to “Call a Zoomer.” The goal is simple: to get strangers to talk to each other.

The project, often referred to as simply “Call a Boomer,” is the latest initiative from Matter Neuroscience, a New York-based company dedicated to mapping the “biomarkers of happiness.”

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By connecting “two of the loneliest demographics” (older adults and younger adults), the project aims to prove that on a molecular level, “humans need one another in order to be happy,” according to Calla Kessler, a social strategist at Matter Neuroscience.

“Younger adults and older adults tend to experience the highest levels of loneliness of any age group,” the company wrote on its website. “So the goal of this project is to inspire generational connection through meaningful conversations, despite differences in age, lifestyle or politics.”

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The hope, according to Kessler, is that the calls will shift the brain’s focus from stress to bonding.

“Our neuroscience angle is cannabinoids over cortisol,” Kessler told Fox News Digital. “Cannabinoids are the feel-good neurotransmitter in our brain that creates that warm feeling with a friendship — and when you activate cannabinoids, you’re counteracting the negative effects of cortisol, which is our primary stress hormone.”

This isn’t Matter’s first round of payphones. Its initial experiment connected one of the most liberal cities in the U.S. (San Francisco) with one of the most conservative (Abilene, Texas).

“We basically just wanted people to find common ground and encourage people to think beyond labels,” Kessler said.

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She noted that the negative results were “almost negligible,” with most participants enjoying their time speaking to different people.

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Now, the focus has shifted from political labels to generational divides.

As the “Call a Boomer” experiment continues, the team is busy collecting audio files of these intergenerational chats to prove that simple connections with other humans can help improve mental health.

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“Our research is essentially trying to find a non-pharmaceutical cure to depression,” Kessler added.

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Looking ahead, she said, “we’ll definitely be doing fun things that we hope get people’s attention and inspire them to learn a little more about themselves.”

A New York City father is desperately seeking a donor to save his teenage son’s life.

Max Uribe, now 15 and a high-school freshman, has just weeks until he will need to be hospitalized with a rare blood disorder that could lead to a deadly cancer.

“Max was just 6 when we first noticed there was something wrong with his blood counts,” his father, Juan Uribe, told Fox News Digital. “At the time, we thought it was due to a viral infection, but they never fully recovered back to their normal level.”

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In December 2024, Max’s condition grew worse, and he was diagnosed with clonal cytopenia, a condition involving the blood and bone marrow.

“All three of his blood counts are low — red, white and platelets,” Uribe said. 

In August 2025, another bone marrow biopsy revealed that Max is on a path to bone marrow failure, creating an urgent need for a stem cell transplant.

“The disease has continued to progress, as his blood counts continue to drop, and therefore, we have to take him to transplant in May of this year,” Uribe said.

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If left untreated, Max’s condition could lead to MDS (myelodysplastic syndrome), a type of blood cancer, and from there possibly into acute myeloid leukemia (AML).

A bone marrow match must have a specific type of HLA (human leukocyte antigen), which are proteins found on the surface of most cells in the body, according to the National Marrow Donor Program (NMDP).

The closer the donor’s HLA markers are to the patient’s, the more likely the body will accept the new cells without a high risk of complications.

People from the same ethnic background are more likely to share similar HLA types, meaning a patient is most likely to find a compatible donor among individuals with similar ancestry, per the NMDP.

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Non-Hispanic White patients have a 79% chance of a perfect match. That drops to 49% for Hispanic/Latino patients, 29% for Black patients and even lower for mixed ancestries, the NMDP reports.

Because Max is a “very rare combination” of half-Colombian from his father and a mix of Italian, British and German from his mother, his path to a perfect match is proving much more difficult, Uribe noted.

“For a kid like Max, with complex, mixed heritage, the math is devastating.”

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“For a kid like Max, with complex, mixed heritage, the math is devastating,” he said. “The thinking is, we need large numbers if we’re going to have that perfect match for my son.”

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Max, who participates in competitive tennis and varsity wrestling, just had additional blood work done on Friday, which revealed that his counts continue to plummet.

“We’re at the point where this is beginning to manifest a bit more, which is why the urgency is so critical,” Uribe said.

If a donor is not secured by Max’s hospitalization in May, the medical team will have to proceed with a partial match, which is not ideal for a number of reasons.

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“The survival rate is meaningfully lower with a partial match, and there’s more risk of graft versus host disease (GVHD), which could lead to complications in the process,” Uribe said. With GVHD, the donor cells begin to attack the body.

To help prevent this with a partial match, Max would likely need chemotherapy and immunosuppressants for a longer period of time, which could weaken his immune system.

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Anyone interested in donating can order a free test kit on the Team Max website. The kit includes a quick cheek swab that is sent back to the lab to determine whether someone is a match.